Zoids: Alternate Dimension
by Cartoons rock
Summary: this basicly it follows the story of Chaotic Century and Guardian Force thrown into a blender there's even a Zoid from New century Zero thrown in its gonna be one mixed up ride I hope you enjoy it and please review
1. The Boy From Planet Zi

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING AND DUE TO MY OWN NEGLIGENCE I FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR ecyor0 FOR THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS THANKS TO THE FEW MONTHS IT TOOK FOR HIM TO REPLY I ASSUMED HE DIDN'T CARE AND I APOLOGIZE FOR MY ACTIONS IF I HAD KNOWN HE WANTED RECOGNITION I WOULD'VE RECOGNIZED HIM SOONER THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME  
**

**Ep.1 – The Boy From Planet Zi.**

The desert wind gave a soft moan as it crested the dunes, the faint sound only accentuating the intense silence of the wasteland. Bare, featureless, almost devoid of life....

But not totally devoid of it.

A peal of laser fire stuttered through the air, smacking into the sand and sending another cloud of dust up in front of the hoverboard. The boy riding the board flung up his hand, swerving to avoid a mouthful of the stuff. The Guysack chasing him let loose with another burst of laser beams – the pilot was still wide of the mark, but his aim was steadily improving. The boy gritted his teeth. At this rate, he'd be a smear on the ground before too long "Hey, what's your problem anyway!?" he yelled back as he zig-zagged back and forth. "What did I ever do to you?"

Inside the Guysack, the pilot grinned. "Oh, nothing at all" he chuckled to himself. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, buddy. I've been waiting for a spot of target practice ever since we started this patrol..." he pressed down on the fire button again, sweeping the ground in front of the scorpion zoid. The kid barely managed to kick the hover board into the air before the rounds exploded where he'd just been a split second before. Swerving out wide as he regained his balance, he looked around wildly for something – anything – other than the endless sands. "Of all the days I managed to sneak out, it has to be **this** day..." he muttered to himself. "But I'm gonna outsmart this loser – or my name's not Raven Storm!"

A few miles out from the chase, a pair of men stood on a sand dune, their desert-yellow command wolves blending into the sand behind them. "Look at that kid" said the one with the vidi-binoculars. "Getting excited over a brat on a hoverboard – it's almost embarrasing."

"Give him a break" said the other. "Scouts almost never get a chance to fight, and that kid hasn't been in a strike force since he joined the unit."

"Still... it's just not professional. The Republican Army is a disciplined fighting force – strength through unity, unity through force and all that. Chasing down a brat in a scout Guysack is hardly going to impress anyone."

"The kid did see us though – he's got no business being this far outside his village's designated zone. For all we know, he's an imperial spy. And as for not impressing anyone... Not having compunctions about chasing down civilians, no matter how innocent they seem? That's sergeant material right there. 10 credits say he's promoted by the end of the tour of duty."

"You're on." said the first soldier.

Raven swerved his hoverboard down into a trough between two dunes in an effort to throw off the Guysack and gain some distance. Banking so sharply the engines bit into the sand, he fishtailed up the dune ridge, launching off the bank and down onto the sand below. He turned to check on the Guysack – and found it had vanished completely. Instinctively, he slowed down as he searched for it. "Where'd it go?" he asked himself as the sands became quiet again. He was caught completely off guard when the Guysack erupted from the sand in front of him – only his lightning sharp reflexes saved him from being crushed in the thing's claws. Jumping up as the claw plunged down, Raven used the sudden upsurge in anti-grav propulsion from the metal claw to boost up and over the Guysack, skipping past the tail and skimming across the sand, gaining a great deal of ground as the zoid turned itself to give chase again. "Dammit, where's a cave when you need one?" Raven did another scan of the desert – and saw what had been obscured by the high dunes. A great, oblong structure, looming out of the desert in front of them; a derelict fortress, looming out of the sand in front of him – a ruin of an old civilization. The Helic Republic wouldn't care about them – the invasion of the Guylos Empire was employing fluid, lightning-raid battle tactics that had little use for permanent, heavily fortified structures, but a lot of them had been left more or less intact, being too remote and dilapidated to be economically viable for reclamation.

"Perfect!" Raven grinned in satisfaction. "There's no way he'll be able to follow me in with a Guysack!" Revving up the engine as far as it would go, Raven leaned down into the wind, rocketing towards the edifice ahead of him. It was a close call – though he could match the speed of the Guysack on the straight, the constant swerving to avoid gunshots was slowly whittling down the distance between them – and the detour he had to take to avoid a derelict zoid didn't help matters. By the time he reached the fortress, the scorpion was snapping at his heels. He shot straight through the entrance, barely keeping his balance as the Guysack slammed into the stone, the pilot having been completely focused on his prey. "Oh, clever, clever..." the Republican scout backed up his zoid, claws snapping. "But you're not getting away that easily – I'll tear you out of there with my bare hands if I have to!" Raising the tail, he let loose a stream of laser fire at the wall above him. A shallow crater was blasted out of the stone surface. Inside the fortress, Raven was thrown off his hoverboard, landing with a solid 'thunk!' on the floor.

"Ouch..." Raven winced as he stood up, rubbing his tailbone. There was another crash of laser striking stone, and Raven stumbled as he picked up his board. "No point staying here" he commented as he ran deeper into the facility.

"Alright, that'll do Private."

The republican scout looked behind him as the two command wolves loped to a stop behind the Guysack. "Stay outta this!" he growled. "I've got things under control."

"Oh really? Looks to me like you're hitting your head against a brick wall. Literally."

The scout fumed as his superior pulled him up. "Okay, okay, I can't get to him, you win, I'll leave him be."

"Hey, I didn't say leave him alone, I just told you to stop. We can't have a kid like that running round – we're just here to give you a little help... Alright Dorelo, fire on my mark; let's bust this place wide open."

Raven peered into the dark room, hesitant to step in – the room seemed much larger than it was in the dim light. The dull thud of the shelling outside goaded him forwards. After all, this was perfect – at the end of a long corridor, no doubt deep inside the fortress, and with an entrance that Raven had only found because a section of wall had fallen off during one of the bombardments, this was the perfect spot to wait for the soldiers outside to give up and go home. They'd lose interest soon enough. Republican soldiers didn't care enough about the outlying villages to take time out of their schedule to play hide and seek. They just sent the collectors round to collect the tariffs and left a few craters in any village that didn't pay up. They always payed up next time. The system kept the fledgling Republic functional quite effectively.

The Guylos Empire had of course tried to quell the rebellion in the far east of the continent, but due to internal politics and the emperor's own indifference to the latent danger, the Helic Republic had gained enough momentum to establish itself as an independent nation. And like so many radical freedom-fighter movements, they had become a dictatorship more tyrannical than the empire ever was they were even now striking back at in retribution for the losses they had suffered during the revolution. Although how they could justify storming their way through clearly civilian towns to "eliminate potential threats to national stability" disgusted Raven. Maybe they didn't even worry about justifying it. With the President's extensive secret service, they certainly didn't need to worry about insurgency – only a fool would try to stand against the twisted wheels of justice that powered the cruel nation.

Glancing around the room, Raven noticed with surprise that there was a dim red light blinking on the wall next to him. "Strange" he murmured. "How does this place still have power?" Reaching over, he pressed the switch. There was a low whirring hum, and beads of light began to run along the ceiling, recessed lights activating as they zig-zagged back and forth along the grooved channels. Raven found himself in some kind of laboratory – unlike the rest of the fortress, the walls here were gleaming, and functional equipment still blinked and chirped as it booted up from decades of inactivity. And there, in the middle of the room, were two structures – one was an oval vessel, clamped at either end by electronic stands that branched out with numerous cables and wires. The other structure had probably been the same thing, once upon a time, but only a few shards of the green glass remained stuck to the supporting structure. Raven came closer to the intact pod, peering inside. Behind the glass, a murky liquid obscured something – a vague shape with a wedge-shaped head and the long, powerful tail of a dinosaur-type zoid. Strange – if it was a zoid, it was incredibly small. Wild zoids were very rare now, and the dinosaur-type zoids especially had been, for all intents and purposes, hunted to extinction. They lived on in zoids like the Godos, but for a natural dinosaur-type zoid to still exist... Raven pressed his hands against the glass, gazing in wonder. It had been a while since he'd looked at a zoid with this much child-like admiration. So focused was he on his find, that when the shape stirred, it's eyes pulsing vibrant blue, he started back, accidentally hitting a switch as he pushed himself away from the pod. The low hum of energy swelled to a resonant throb as the pod began to glow with light. Scrambling back against the wall, Raven looked on in awe as cracks lanced across the glass surface. With a hiss of steam, the pod burst open, and a shape spilled out onto the ground.

Now that it was clearly visible, Raven could see that the zoid couldn't really be called a dinosaur – if anything it was a dragon. Two raised fins, like folded wings, protuded from its back, and fluted spikes radiated back from its face to shield its neck. The long tail twitched as the zoid pulled itself to its feet, looking around to take in its surroundings. Raven didn't see it do so – he was already running down the corridor like he had a ghost after him.

Raven pressed himself against the wall, chest heaving as he risked a stop to catch his breath. He glanced back down the corridor – no sign of it. Of all the things Raven had been expecting, that had been the last. He was lucky he'd got out of there before it gained it's bearings. Raven took a few deep breaths, and then started running again. He needed to get out of here – forget the Republicans, anything was better than being stuck in the same building as that.. _thing_.

Suddenly an ear-splitting crash pierced the air, and the corridor wall ahead of Raven cracked apart, revealing the Guysack scout. Raven instinctively went to start his hoverboard – and realised that in the panic of seeing the zoid in the pod, he'd left the board behind. Now there was no way he could outrun the Guysack, and nowhere he could hide, not in a corridor this big. "You're mine now, you little brat!" the republican soldier crowed in triumph as he brought the claws down on Raven. The boy flung up his hands, helpless to defend himself – and looked up in surprise as a blazing white bolt of light arced across his head and ricocheted off the Guysack's cockpit, leaving a large crack along its length. The bolt earthed into the ground in front of Raven, coalescing into the hunched shape of the dragon zoid from the lab room. Raven gave a strangled cry of fear, scrambling back from the zoid. For it's part, the black zoid simply looked over its shoulder at him. It gave a contemplative growl, before turning and coming back to him, paying no attention to Raven's attempts to back away.

"Get away!" he yelled, voice cracking as his throat tightened with fear. "Get away from me!" Ignoring Raven's frantic struggling, the zoid clamped its jaws round the scruff of his collar and deposited the boy on its back, between the fins. There was a hiss of pneumatics, and the fins opened, unfolding into a pair of bat-like wings, the membrane between them strangely organic for a zoid. Leaning forward into a sprint, the zoid barreled down the corridor away from the Guysack, forcing Raven to clutch the thing's neck to keep his balance. A single flap of the wings, and the zoid took to the air, skimming down the corridor even as the Guysack sent a spray of lasers after them. The dragon-like creature banked sharply, rounding a corner, then pulled up sharply to navigate a flight of stairs – in all they were probably only in the corridors for half a minute or so, but the trip took an eternity to Raven's panicked mind. Finally, bright daylight stabbed through the dim gloom, and Raven's zoid rocketed out of a window high up on the fortress. Raven risked a look down below – two desert-yellow command wolves were outside the fortress, and the Guysack was just emerging. At that point, the dragon zoid banked sharply again, going into a steep spiral that left Raven convinced they were going to slam into the sand. At the last minute, the zoid flared its wings, pulling out of the dive in a sharp, upside-down loop that threw Raven off its back and deposited him into... a zoid cockpit. Raven looked around in surprise. It was the derelict zoid that he'd passed on the way here – now that he had a chance to look at it properly, he saw that it was a dinosaur zoid he had never seen before, no doubt abandoned during one of the ill fated attempts by the Guylos Empire to take down the Republican defensive line. Not that it was much use to him in this state. Looking up, Raven saw the dark grey zoid standing above him.

"What do you want from me?" Raven demanded. "Why haven't you attacked me yet?" The zoid tilted its head to one side, as if it had understood Raven, but had no idea what he was on about. Finally, it gave a shrug and looked out to the side. Raven followed the direction of its gaze, and saw the Guysack bearing down on him, flanked by two Command Wolves that had started firing long-range shots at the wrecked zoid. "Dammit!" Raven cursed as the shots impacted in the sand around him. "I'm a sitting duck like this! What are you-" he looked up at the zoid, and saw that it was leaping into the air, wings flapping as it gained height, before it sublimed into a bolt of white light which shot high into the air and arced back down, piercing through the back of the zoid. A strong wind kicked up, obscuring the approaching Republicans behind a screen of sand. Raven made to climb out, hoping to hide in the confusion – and found himself stuck as the rotted remains of the cockpit harness re-grew themselves, holding Raven down as, before his eyes, the stoned-over surface of the control console shed its years of decay like a snake shedding its skin. Dead screens gleamed as previously non-existent combat systems came online and it showed Berserk Fury. The dull red of the rusted exterior became a shining silver and the open cockpit closed itself, view screens crytallising into place over the empty eye sockets like ice on a window. Finally, with one last surge of wind, the sand was dispelled and the Berserk Fury raised itself up, letting loose an exultant roar as it tasted life once again.

"What the- how the hell did he do that?!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, faltering in his attack.

"Calm down, Dorelo" said the other. "He's just a brat, he's in an unknown zoid so even if he had some experience with piloting, the control scheme would throw him off. Besides, a dinosaur type like that has to be a high-performance combat machine – I hear it takes a year of full-on training just to qualify for a Red Horn. There's three of us, and we're all trained soldiers. There's no way he can win. Now follow my lead – Private, head right and lay down cover fire, Dorelo, charge straight ahead, all guns – I'll head out the the left and snipe out his control conduit. Okay, go!"

The republicans fanned out, laying down a blanket of fire as the Berserk Fury sprung forwards to meet them. The Berserk Fury was lightning-fast; it gave a jink to the left to dodge the Guysack's fire, followed by a lunge at the first command wolf's jugular, ripping out enough internals to send it into a system freeze. As the Command Wolf crashed to the ground, the berserk Fury had already wheeled around, spitting four bolts of energy from its back-mounted cannons to rip through the Guysack's back. The tail went dead along with half the legs, leaving the barely functional zoid to drag itself forwards as the Berserk Fury turned its attention to the last command wolf.

"Th... that's not possible!" the republican choked in shock. "It was only one zoid – how? How did it beat us?" Too late, he tried to make a run for it – the Berserk Fury was on his hindquarters in an instant, hamstringing the back legs, before jumping over the zoid's crumpled form, kicking off the back with more force than was really needed for the jump. Leaving the crippled republican force behind it, the Berserk Fury took off at speed into the desert, in the direction of Raven's home village.

In the cockpit of the Berserk Fury, Raven sat back, not sure what to make of what had just happened. He'd piloted zoids before, but never one as advanced as this Zoid, and definitely never in a combat situation. The speed with which he'd been able to dispatch three trained soldiers... that couldn't have been all his work.

Almost in response to his thought, the Berserk Fury suddenly came to a stop, cockpit opening as a bolt of light arced out of the zoid and earthed into the ground below Raven's vantage point. Spreading its wings, the dragon zoid took to the air, alighting on the nose of the Fury's. Folding its wings back up, it contemplated the boy in front of it. Raven did the same to the zoid, slightly less panicky than in the ruins.

"Okay" he said finally. "You didn't attack me when you came out of the pod, you helped me escape the Guysack, and then you helped me defeat the republican patrol. And now that we're clear of any danger, you still haven't attacked me." Raven gave a deep sigh, closing his eyes. "I suppose..." he said slowly. "...that you can come with me – [i]_for now_[/i]." He added emphatically. "But don't pull anything."

The zoid gave an amused, rasping growl. It _seemed_ friendly enough. Maybe it had just been... Raven sighed, closing his eyes again. The zoid gave a qureious purr.

"Nothing" he replied, looking up at the dark grey zoid.

"Shadow" he said finally. "I'll call you Shadow."

Shadow gave a nod of agreement, before fanning his wings out and rising up into the air, circling above the Berserk Fury as Raven started it up again, heading home. He hadn't worked out how he was going to explain either Shadow or the Berserk Fury... he'd think of something.

* * * * *

The sun was setting as the last, mangled frame of a Molga lost its residual energy and slumped into a heap of lifeless metal. A figure stood on a cliff top overlooking the smoking battefield, arms folded as he watched the last death throes of the zoids he'd dealt mortal blows to. The pilot inside the Molga was probably still alive – he'd deal with that when he went down on a final sweep. Right now it was time for a well-earned stretch; imperial grunts were hardly a challenge, but you still got tired from the tedium of crushing Molga after Molga. There was a metallic clunking sound as the figure's companion came up behind him, saurian frame exuding aggression. An annoyed, low growl issued from close to the figure's ear.

"Don't worry, we'll finish them off" he replied, placating the grumbling zoid. "I just like to leave them for a while first – let them build up some hope of survival so I can crush it." Behind him, the sapphire-blue dinosaur with tusks on her jaw-hinges gave an evil chuckle, golden-yellow eyes gleaming. And from behind its tail, a peal of soft, cruel laughter made its way forwards, revealing itself to belong to a blue-haired woman, slight of build, with turquoise eyes.

"Oh, Van..." she purred in a voice like liquid silk, "you've got cruelty down to an artform." Van Flyheight cracked a wicked grin.

"Why thank-you, Reese" he replied. Specula the Organoid gave another evil chuckle, flexing her claws in anticipation.

"Yes, I think it's probably about time we went down and put those soldiers out of their misery." Van turned away from the cliff, making his way to the ocean-blue Shield Liger behind him. Specula let out a savage growl as she activated her boosters and fused to the Liger, lowering the head for Van to climb into. "You want a front-row seat, or would you prefer to watch the whole thing from here?" Van asked Reese as he strapped himself in.

"I'll stay here" she replied, sitting down with her legs dangling off the cliff. "I find the sunset relaxing." She looked off towards the west. "Red sky at night" she commented, observing the colour of the evening sky. "That means blood's been spilled somewhere." Van laughed as he closed the cockpit, powering the Shield Liger through the foliage and off the cliff, taking the short drop to the ground. Letting out a roar, the Liger began to lope at a leisurely pace through the carnage of the battlefield, back-mounted cannons swiveling to acquire their targets. Rese watched Van play for a while, before leaning back and gazing up at the few stars that had begun to show themselves in the dusk. "Not long now..." she murmured to herself. "... and then it'll be red skies every night."

* * *

**Please review**


	2. The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**

**Ep.2 – The Journey Begins**

"Right, now just _stay here._" Raven said sternly to Shadow, emphasizing his point with his finger. Shadow gave a resigned grumble, sitting down and curling up next to the Berserk Fury. Raven wasn't sure how long the black zoid would stay there, but he couldn't bring it with him into the village – people would flip out. Thank goodness the thick tree cover to the west of the village allowed him to obscure the Berserk Fury. Raven still hadn't worked out how he was going to explain that. Maybe he wouldn't have to... Raven shook his head as he made his way up the ridge to the start of the woods. Stupid . There was no way he was going to be able to hide to it for any length of time. He'd have to make something up, obviously – people would accuse him of telling unbelievable lies if he said the Berserk Fury had magically reanimated before his eyes. Besides, he'd like to avoid mentioning that he'd run into a Republican patrol in bad mood.

* * * * *

"MORONS!"

The three republican soldiers winced as their commanding officer slammed his hand on the table. This was going to be unpleasant.

"The finest of the Republic... and you have your entire scout unit wiped out by some village yokel brat in a broken Zoid?!"

"Uh.. sir, that's not exactly what happened..."

"Oh, so I'm just imagining the slagged Guysack in the repair bay?" the officer snapped back. "And the two command wolves missing a throat and a back drive train? Those are just hude hallucinations brought on by sub-standard army rations last night?" The soldier who had spoken shifted uncomfortably.

"Sir?"

"What, Private Dorelo?"

"What Alvicus here was trying to say is that the unknown zoid wasn't just broken – it was a wreck. It'd been rusted over for what must have been years before that kid got in it, and after that dragon zoid went into the thing, it was like it had just come off the production line."

"So now dead zoids walk the earth! I am most impressed, Private" the officer said in a voice that said he was anything but. "I do believe you now hold the record for the most outlandish excuse I have ever heard in my-"

"What was that you said?" The calmly curious voice had more stopping power than any impassioned yell. All four present in the room looked at the man who had just entered.

"Sir!" the officer said, formal and collected as he saluted. The newcomer acknowledged the salute, before leaning over the table.

"So then, Private" the man said, eyes pinning the scout unit. "what was that about a dragon zoid?"

"Uh... well, there was this dragon zoid that carried the boy out of the fortress, dropped him in an unknown zoid and then... I dunno... _merged_ with it."

"And ressurected the zoid." the man finished.

"S-sir, you don't seriously _believe_ these incompetents do you?"

"I doubt they would have come up with a story this outlandish just to get out of trouble" he replied. "But if they're telling the truth, then there's only one explanation: an Organoid."

"Organoid?" the officer echoed. "But... they're just a legend, aren't they?"

"All legends start somewhere" the man replied. "True, a lot of the stories are probably embellishment, but they all agree on the same thing. Anyone in possesion of an Organoid has the ability to turn any Zoid into a deadly fighting machine. This isn't something we can afford to pass up – I want this unit kitted out and sent to find that kid ASAP. And give them air support – we don't have information no this zoid we should gather information as well."

"Uh.. y-yes, Sir." the officer stammered in reply.

"Very good." the man said, straightening up. "I'll leave the rest to you."

"Wait, I don't have the authority-"

"Just tell them you're acting on Captain Herman's orders." Captain Herman looked back at the officer and gave him a knowing smile. "That should smooth things out nicely."

"Y-yes, Sir."

* * * * *

"And WHERE have you been?" Raven jumped as Nami caught him red-handed trying to sneak back in without being noticed. "I've been worried _sick!_Do you have any _idea_ how dangerous it is to go running off like that? Do you know what the army does to people that wander out too far?'

_Well now I do, _thought Raven. "Look, I'm fine, alright? I just went out wandering for a bit, that's all." Nami rolled her eyes, picking up the covered basket beside her.

"I've got to get these apples to the pastor" she said, walking over to the door. "I'll deal with _you_ later." Raven shook his head as Nami left. He should have known better than to try and get her to see sense. She was always fretting about the smallest thing. Raven climbing a tree? Call the fire brigade. Raven out after dark? Organize a search party. Raven under attack from Republicans?... assuming she recovered from the shock, there'd be snow in the desert before he was ungrounded again. This was gonna be hard... Raven left the house, vaugely thinking that he might go back to the Berserk Fury and think things over.

"Oh, hello Joyce."

"Raven" Raven said automatically as he turned to see who was talking. "Oh, hello Father."

"You haven't seen your sister, have you?" the pastor asked Raven.

"She just went out to give you some apples" Raven said, voice betraying his indifference.

"Got on her bad side, did we?"

"Not that it takes much effort" Raven muttered darkly, leaning against the wall. The pastor gave Raven a concerned glance.

"Look, even though Nami isn't your sister by blood..." Raven turned his head away, "...you're as much a brother to her as anyone can be. And you know how she gets about you wandering off on your own-"

Raven and the pastor both jerked their heads round as a high-pitched scream came from somewhere on the edge of the village.

"That sounded like Nami" Raven said, pulling himself off the wall. He and the pastor took off at top speed towards where the sound had come from.

* * * * *

The pastor came to a stop, aghast at the sight before him. "What on Zi...?"

"Get away from her!" Raven barked. Shadow looked over at him. Nami was pressed against the wall of a house amidst the scattered apples from the basket she'd dropped, eyes wide and chest heaving as she tried to slowly inch away from the black dragon a half-dozen feet in front of her.

"I said, get _away _from her!" Raven repeated. Shadow tilted his head, giving a querelous growl before turning back to look at Raven's sister. He took a step closer, making Nami's knees give way and drop her to the ground. Raven gave a cry of alarm as Shadow stooped down towards Nami. Nami put up her hands and made a small, frightened noise – then looked up in surprise as Shadow straightened up again, holding an apple. He sniffed it curiously a few times, before tossing it into the air and snapping it up in one gulp. Nami gave a faint wiffle of relieved laughter, before she fainted.

* * * * *

"Alright, so you found this...uh.... Shadow, in some old ruins?" The group were back in Raven's house. Treana lay on the couch, wet facecloth on her forehead as she recovered. Shadow was curled up next to Raven's seat – he'd fit the part of a cat perfectly, if it wasn't for the fact that he took up half the floor. Raven nodded in response to the village elder's question. "He was in some kind of pod."

"And this Berserk Fury... you say it just came back to life?"

"Right in front of me." Raven folded his hands, resting his chin on them as he thought. "Quite frankly, I don't know what is going on."

The elder looked at Shadow, stroking his moustache. "Interesting... you know, Joyce.."

"Raven."

"...I do believe that this Shadow might be an Organoid."

Raven took on a look of surprise, glancing down at Shadow, who had raised his head at the word "organoid.".

"You're serious?"

"I can't think of any other way to explain what happened. And if he is an organoid, then you might have just stumbled on the greatest discovery in recorded history."

Raven sat back, trying to digest that notion. His reverie was interrupted by his sister.

"Hang on" she said, sitting up straight. "Why did Shadow ressurect the Berserk Fury anyway?"

"Uh..." Raven had managed to get this far through the story without mentioning the Republic. He was stuck now though...

"Well, you see-"

A crash sounded from somewhere outside, and the floor shook. Everyone in the room was at their feet, scrambling to get outside in an instant. Once out of the house, another crash sent them stumbling, and a plume of dust exploded into the air from somewhere in the village.

"What's happening?" Raven yelled. A howl gave the answer; three desert-yellow command wolves were at the edge of the town, shelling the town with seemingly no pattern or reason. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the barrage stopped.

"Alright then," came the booming voice of one of the pilots, loudspeaker systems broadcasting his words all over the village. "We're after a black dragon zoid – we know you're hiding it, and the brat who found it. We want the zoid, the boy and the unknown ziod he brought back with him. Otherwise, we start shelling your village again, and we won't stop until there's nothing left standing." He fired off another pair of shells to emphasize the point. "You've got ten minutes to bring him forward, after that, we start firing."

For a while, Raven and the other stood still in shock. Finally, Nami turned to Raven. "Oh you didn't." she said, shaking her head. "You did _not_ run into a Republican patrol. Tell me you didn't run into a Republican patrol."

"I would, but you don't like me lying to you" Raven replied. His sister threw her hands up in the air.

"Well _now_ what do we do?!" she yelled, an edge of hysteria on the voice. "Either we send you to your death, or we let the village get destroyed! This is why I keep _telling_ you, _never_ leave the designated zone! It's not worth the-"

"Nami?" Raven intergected

"What?" Treana snapped, looking at him. Raven folded his arms as Shadow came up behind him.

"I defeated them once" Raven said calmly. "I can do it again. If Shadow's really an organoid, then me in my Berserk Fury will be more than enough to take out three command wolves."

"Wh- absolutely not!" Nami said, stamping her foot. "And besides, it's not even your zoid!"

"Well, since it _was_ an abandoned wreck and technically it is" the pastor interrupted. "And really, I can't think of an alternative. Both the options they gave us were unacceptable – I say we let Raven try it."

"But he'll be _killed!_" Treana pleaded. "He's just a kid-"

"He's also a kid who learned how to pilot the village's construction Godos when he was just six. He's easily the best pilot in the entire village, and as he said, he's done it before."

Nami looked helplessly between Raven and the pastor. Finally, Raven came up and gave Nami a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Sis." he said. "I'll be fine. Shadow!"

The organoid spread his wings and gave them a flap, forcing everyone to shield their eyes as Raven broke away, running back towards the Berserk Fury's hiding place. Shadow built up height, before tucking his wings in and going into a swoop, snatching Raven up with his talons.

"Hey! I don't need to be carried, I can get-" Raven was cut off in mid-sentence as Shadow became a bolt of white light, arcing high into the air and then down behind the trees, plunging into the back of the Berserk Fury. Raven barely had time to react before he found himself in the cockpit.

"What the hell..." he felt to check he was still in one piece. He felt like he'd been stretched out into a piece of string and then snapped back into place, all before he'd had a chance to feel any pain. Shadow, meanwhile, had already activated the Berserk Fury, and had got as far as standing up before Raven took a firm grip of the controls.

"_I'll_ drive, thank-you." he growled. Shadow growled back (more out of annoyance than anything else) before relinquishing control to Raven's console. "Now then, I'll show you what _I_ can do."

* * * * *

The soldiers had seen the flash as Shadow bolted to the Berserk Fury's location. They were already halfway through the village, weapons on a hair trigger as they smashed their way down the main street.

"Don't forget, this guy's dangerous" the squad leader warned as the strike team left the township and crested the ridge by the wood. "We should have the advantage, but we don't know what he or that zoid is capable so I want you to treat him like he has a vulcan cannon on his back. Don't give him one second to get his bearings."

"Don't need to tell us twice" Dorelo muttered back. "This time, that brat's going _down_. I'd like to see him take care of our air support. Speaking of which..." Dorelo opened up to comm channel. "We're going after the unknown zoid – back us up."

"Roger that, Dorelo" came a crackling voice over the radio. "Tango 1 incoming, weapons hot."

* * * * *

The Beserk Fury gave another annoyed growl as Raven slinked up to the ridge, crouched down low to keep himself hidden as long as possible.

"I said I can handle it" Raven replied tersely. "It's not like I expect to be the best zoid pilot right off the bat, but I know what I'm doing. Get off my case, will you?" Shadow grumbled, but kept clear of the controls.

"Thank-you." Raven came to a stop, crouched down with cannons trained on the ridge ahead. "Now then, we just need to wait..."

As it turned out, they didn't; the Republican soldiers chose that moment to break over the ridge. Raven's response was intantaeneous – the beam cannons let loose a barrage of laser fire, slamming into the chest of the first command wolf.

"Get him!" Dorelo called out as Raven turned tail and bolted, beam cannons rotating to lay down suppressive fire. "Open fire!"

"Come on..." Raven murmured, swerving the Berserk Fury left and right to dodge the cannon fire. "That's it, away from the village... perfect." Bringing the Berserk Fury to a stop, Raven wheeled round and began spraying fire at the Wolves, AZ 185mm Beam Cannons letting loose a barrage of shells that cut the legs from under one of them. As the two remaining Command Wolves closed, Raven charged to meet them, beam cannons unrelenting.

"He's tearing us apart!" Alvicus called over the com "We need to pull back!"

"Not yet!" Dorelo replied. "Keep his attention, our air support's almost here..."

At that moment, a rattle of machinegun fire strafed across the sand, peppering the Berserk Fury's back, bringing it's charge to a stop. "That's more like it!" Dorelo cried in triumph as the Pteris swooped overhead. "Now, bring him down! I want that zoid in worse shape than when that brat found it!"

Raven flinched as the Command Wolves hammered the Berserk Fury, bringing it to its knees. "Dammit!" Raven swore, punching the side of the cockpit. He should have figured they'd have backup. Taking aim with the beam cannon, Raven sent a burst of fire after the Pteras that was circling back for another strafing run. The shot missed their mark by several yards, and the Pteras came back again, pinging the cockpit with a few stray shots as it aimed for the control conduit. Shadow gave an urgent growl.

"For the last time!" Raven shouted, taking aim with the beam cannons. "I don't need your-"

His aim must have been even more off than he thought – the controls were almost wrenched out of his hand as Shadow corrected the aim. The beams lanced through the air, slamming into the Pteras' left magnessor.

"Wha?- That's impossible!" the pilot said in disbelief, barely believing it as the Pteras went into a crash dive. "How did he hit me? There's no way he could- arrggh, system eject!" The canopy blew off, and the pilot ejected, parachute deploying as the Pteras slammed into the desert sand. The Command Wolves wavered, morale wounded by the loss of their support.

"How did he do that?" Alvicus asked, panic-striken. "There's no way the beam cannons could be that accurate! No way! How can a kid be this good?"

"Captain Herman was right" Dorelo said, more to himself than his wingman. "It must be an organoid." The Berserk Fury threw its head back, giving a roar of triumph, before hulking down and training the beam cannons right at Dorelo's Command Wolf. He took the hint. "Fall back!" he called. "This guy's out of our league."

"But Dorelo, the Sergeant will-"

"Have our hides, I know, but I'd rather face him than this brat. Fall back!"

The Command Wolves turned tail and fled, rapidly receding into to the distance. For a while, Raven stayed still. Finally, he addressed his invisible companion.

"...that was you correcting the aiming, right?" Shadow gave an affirmative growl. "So... you _are_ an organoid then?" Another affirmative. Raven stayed silent for a while. As much as he disliked the idea of fighting with someone else's strength, there was no denying that Shadow had probably saved the day; that Pteras would have been next to impossible to hit with the beam cannons otherwise. And this made the third time he'd saved Raven's life. Raven hated to admit when his first impression was wrong, it did seemed that Shadow was looking out for him. "Fine" Raven said eventually, putting his hands up in defeat. "We work together now. Happy?" Shadow growled a yes. "Right... now then, let's see to that Pteras pilot..." Raven paced the Berserk Fury up to the downed Pteras, leisurely keeping pace with the pilot as he tried to extricate himself from the parachute. He managed to get untangled and run a good seven yards before the Berserk Fury's paw came down in front of him. "That's far enough" Raven's voice came from the cockpit loudspeakers as he lowered the head down, raising the canopy to talk to the man directly. "Can you talk to your commander?"

"Uh... well, er..."

"Yes or no."

"Uh.. yes?"

"Good" Raven put his foot up on the edge of the cockpit, resting his arm on his knee. "I want you to deliver a message to him..."

* * * * *

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" The Sergeant was almost having an apoplectic fit. "Not only do you fail to stop this kid, despite having a full squad of Command Wolves, but you turn tail when your forces are only half gone! You're a disgrace to the regiment!"

"I don't care if it makes me a national traitor, I am _not_ going up against that brat again, no matter how many zoids you put at my back!"

"Why you insolent-"

"Sir?"came the voice of a radio operator.

"WHAT!?" The radio operator flinched.

"Sir, we've just retrieved the Pteras pilot and the third member of the squad. The Ptears pilot had a message to relay – said it was from the kid."

"Oh?" Captain Herman sat up from his reclined position at the back of the room, taking interest. "What did he say?"

"He said..." the radio operator looked down at his portable console. "Tell your boss that I'm not interested in fighting the army, but if you send someone to blow up my village again, then so help me I'll hunt you down and... uh..."

"Yes?"

"I think you'd better read that bit yourself."

Captain Herman took the console and perused the rest of the message. His eyebrows rose and the corner of his mouth twitched. " This kid's got a colourful vocabulary." He handed the console back to the operator. "Didn't know it was physically possible to do that with a beam cannon."

"Right, well..." the operator gave an awkward cough. "if that's all, I'll be heading off..."

* * * * *

"Look, are you sure about this Raven?" the pastor asked as Raven finished packing his things.

"I'm sure" Raven replied. "The Republic's after me now – staying here won't keep me safe, and it'll only put the rest of you in danger."

"But where will you go?" Treana asked.

"Dunno" Raven replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Try and find somewhere to lie low, I guess. Maybe try to sneak over into the empire."

"The empire?" Nami's voice became high as her stress levels soared. "But they're tyrants! Ruthless!"

"And the Republic's much worse" Rave replied. "Besides, at least they're not after me specifically. Heck, they don't even know I exist yet."

"Yet?"

"Oh, they'll probably find out eventually – the secret police can't catch all the spies."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Nami asked in complete bafflement. "You're acting like this is no big deal!" Raven looked at Nami.

"You of all people should know why I don't panic easily." He said quietly. Nami submitted, giving a subdued nod.

"Besides" Raven said, turning back to the rest of the group. "Having Shadow here is too dangerous he could be captured. The Republic's already tearing into the Empire – Shadow would be a one-zoid army all on his own. It think it's best I stay on the move and keep him out of the Republic's hands."

The pastor nodded sagely, hands clasped in front on him. "You're a lot more mature than you look, Raven" he said. "You'll make a great zoid pilot one day."

"Thanks" Raven said, a little awkward with praise this direct. He was more used to the occasional reminder that he should be a little less of a loner and make friends. "Well, I'd better be going – the Republic will probably be here soon. I need to be long gone before they arrive."

* * * * *

"I'm gonna give you two choices" Van said, his foot on the imperial soldier's chest. "Either you can tell me when the next shipment of ammo is coming through to the Imperial Garrison outside Red River, after which I'll kill you nice and quickly with a bullet to the head." He twirled his pistol to emphasize the point, "or, you can keep your mouth shut, and I'll let Specula have you."

The imperial soldier looked wild-eyed to his side, where, Specula stood hunched over, her golden-yellow eyes fixed on the man with a disturbingly _hungry_ look.

"He... zoids don't eat organic food." The imperial soldier said, more out of hope than conviction.

"True" Van replied. "But then Specula's not exactly a typical zoid. Besides, she enjoys that sort of thing. The sensation of soft meat being ground to a pulp between her teeth or something."

"Actually" Reese remarked, from where she sat on a nearby rock, "it's because inanimate objects are boring to eat." The imperial soldier's already ashen complexion went a shade closer to old porridge. "I... a fortnight" he blurted. "There's going to be a shipment coming through in a fortnight, mostly cannon shells with some repair tools for the unit's beam weapons."

"Why thank-you" Van said, smiling mercilessly. "See, its amazing the ground you can cover when there's a mutual understading between-" he stopped his soliloquiy as the comm by his belt buzzed an alert. Taking it out and perusing it, he stepped off the soldier, looking interested.

"What is it, Van?" Reese asked one leg idly swinging back and forth.

"Message from headquarters." Van replied, pocketing the comm again and turning towards the ocean-blue Shield Liger. "Gramps says he's got a new assignment he thinks will interest us."

"Sounds fascinating" Reese remarked, before looking back at Specula, who was now advancing on the soldier, chuckling evilly and sliding her claws against each other, creating a sound like knives being sharpened.

"H-hey!" he called, voiced choking with fear. "What about your deal? You said-"

"I know what I said," Van replied, not looking back. "But this is one of Specula's favourite parts of the job. And I couldn't just deny her that after all the buildup – it would be cruel." Van continued to the Shield Liger as Specula gave a savage roar, punctuated by a scream of terror. It was quickly replaced with screams of agony, together with a series of horrible, wet, squelching sounds, that continued long after the screams had died away. Reese sat on the rock, watching with a vague smile. Finally, she got up and came over, bending down to pick up the shredded, bloodied imperial coat.

"Oh look, now you've gone and made a mess of yourself again." she crooned tenderly, using the rag to wipe away the dark red stains around Specula's jaws. Specula gave a low metallic purring sound, lowering her head as Reese lightly stroked her fingers up from the organoid's neck and along the underside of her chin. Gently wrapping her fingers around the end of the dinosaur's jaw, she brought the other up to gently caress the side of her head.

"Such a shame..." Reese said, sadly. "Once this is over, there won't be any imperial soldiers left." Reese made a disappointed noise. Reese gave a mock pout. "Oh, I know, it's not fair... but that's how it is sometimes. You need to put down the cupcake if you want to pick up the chocolate gateau."

"Hey, Reese!" Van called from the cockpit. "Quit seducing the organoid and get up here, we need to get back to base!"

Specula growled quietly, flexing her claws and lashing her tail. Reese stilled her with a splayed hand in front of her nose.

"All in good time" Reese said placatingly. "All in good time." Then, in a louder, lighter voice, "Coming, Van." She made her way liesurely to the cockpit as Specula deployed her boosters, letting out a savage roar as she launched into the air and dived into the Shield Liger. The roar transferred to the larger zoid, and as Reese climbed into the rear seat, Van Flyheight opened up the throttle, bringing the Shield Liger to full speed as the cockpit closed, orange glass blending in with the sunset.

* * *

**Please review**


	3. The Fallen Angel

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**

**Ep.3 – The Fallen Angel**

The Godos pressed against the cliff face, leaning round quizzically to look down the canyon.

"Any sign of it?" the pilot in the second Godos asked.

"Nothing" the first Godos pilot replied. "But the canyon pinches in just after the entrance, so I can't see much."

"Dammit" the second pilot swore. "You sure you saw a zoid?"

"Zoids are a hard thing to miss yeah know"

"Yeah, I guess..." the second Godos pilot replied, turning his zoid around.

"Hey wait, where are you going?"

"Well you weren't thinking of taking the thing on with two Godos, were you?"

"Uh..."

"Please. Privates like us wouldn't stand a chance against an imperial special ops."

"What makes you think he's special ops?"

"Can't think of any other reason a lone zoid would be this deep in Republic territory. Maybe if we just carry on like we don't know what it was, he'll let us go in one piece."

"What, so we don't report him?"

"Well of course we report him – we just make sure he's not coming after us first."

"Uh, if you say so..."

*****

Raven let his breath out as the Godos patrol ambled away. This was getting ridiculous. He could barely run for half a day with having to dive for cover from some patrol or other....

Shadow gave a growl from inside the Berserk Fury.

"Yes, yes, alright, I know we need to get moving" Raven replied. Shadow had proven his worth in hiding them a number of times before Raven even realised the sensor had picked up an enemy. But still... he couldn't quite bring himself to trust the dragon completely. It just seemed too.... convenient. Why was he travelling with Raven in the first place? What did he get out of it?

Shadow gave another reminding growl and twitched the Berserk Fury's foot. He'd learned not to take full control of the zoid outside of an emergency; Raven really did hate it. To be honest he wasn't too happy with Shadow spending most of his time bonded to the Berserk Fury, but until he got fully used to the Berserk Fury's controls, he really needed Shadow for when fast reactions were crucial.

"Yeah, moving" Raven replied, pacing out from his hiding place in one of the alcoves along the canyon wall. He wasn't sure exactly where he was meant to be going, but Shadow did seem to be steering him in a certain direction. And he had to keep moving anyway. Leaving the canyon, Raven leaned forward on the controls, the Berserk Fury moving into its distinctive bounding gait as it continued on to its mystery destination.

*****

The sun had already set, and the last drabs of light were leaving the sky above the desert. Beneath the sand, a sleeper trap lay, dormant, waiting for prey. What it got was a predator.

Even as the sleeper computers activated and the Guysacks clambered out of the ground, they were being shot down, well-placed cannon shots smashing the cockpits, slagging the drive trains, blasting the legs clear. The lone attacker didn't waste a single second; the cannons swiveled, firing as soon as they were lined up and then swept back to aim for the next target. The last Gustav managed to get a single shot of beam fire off before the Command Wolf sent it flying with a cannon shell to the head. The pilot glanced at the scorch mark where the beam had hit the shoulder of his zoid.

"Damn" he said in a laid back tone. "Almost a perfect run." Running his hand through his spiky, brown-blond hair, he leaned over to the comm. "You catch that?"

"Every second" the reply came back. "We'll have the other half of your payment waiting for you when you get back. Good work, mercenary."

"Why do you guys never use personal names when you're dealing with mercenaries?" the pilot asked conversationally as he adjusted his three-lens eyepatch.

"Not professional" the imperial soldier at the other end replied tersely.

"Riiight. See you in a few days then." Irvine flicked off the comm and started to pace the Command Wolf out of the field of wrecked zoids. These imperials must have been really desperate – they never would have used mercenaries during the rebellion. The Republic wasn't just fighting for survival now: they stood a very good chance of wiping the empire out. What was stopping Emperor Rudolph II from sending out the full strength of the imperial army? At this rate he'd be out of a job before next year...

Irvine's attention was caught by a faint blip on the edge of his scanner. A zoid was moving across his path, towards the northwest. And it wasn't a republican zoid. Curious. Well, the imperial army wasn't expecting to see him for a few days anyway – might as well take the time to tail the guy. There could be money in it, after all.

*****

Irvine crawled his way up to the cliff face, peering down at the faint speck of light on the canyon floor. Looks like closing the distance at night had been a smart move. Why did everyone drop their gaurd when they weren't on the move? Lying prone at the cliff edge, Irvine brought his hand up to his eyepatch, zooming in a few levels. "Huh" he remarked as he saw his quarry for the first time. "Guy's just a kid. How did he get hold of a zoid like that?" He must have been with someone. Irvine looked around the campsite for another pilot. At first, there was nothing; then a figure moved at the base of the Berserk Fury's legs, walking out towards the light. The fire glinted off the shadow-black steel, a reflection rippling along the Organoid's tail as it flexed.

"Holy-" Irvine fumbled his eyepatch in his surprise, accidentally flicking it back a setting. Hurriedly getting it back to the correct zoom level, Irvine looked again. There was no mistake – there was a small, dragon-type zoid with the kid. And it could only be an organoid. There was no way that kid could have piloted that zoid. After all these years of searching ruins in his off-months, here was an organoid less than half a mile away. There was no way this kid could stop him. And once he was out of the way, the organoid would be Irvine's. But now was not the time to strike. He was too close to his zoid. Irvine was a skilled pilot, but he hadn't got that skill by picking fights with opponents he didn't know the strength of. Organoids were a mystery to all, and if the legends were even half true, Irvine's Command Wolf would be completely outstripped. No, he had to wait until this kid got separated from his zoid and he would strike. Until then, he would wait.

*****

Raven brought the Berserk Fury to a stop in front of the canyon. It was a very narrow trail – barely wide enough for the Republic's large-scale zoids to make their way through. And yet they must have gone through – now that he was directly in front of the chasm, he could see the bright flare of light coming off the republican base at the end of the passage. The white stone was all but obscured by the dense, green vegetation that blanketed the main structure. Only the observation tower was properly visible. It obviously hadn't been occupied for several decades.

"..So, you want me to go in there?" Raven asked. Shadow growled an affirmation. Raven shrugged. He still had no idea what Shadow was up to. Possibly heading somewhere they could hide and wait out the search parties? In any case, Raven himself had no for how to proceed from here – he hadn't even set foot outside his village since he was six. If you thought about it, he was really at Shadow's mercy here. It wasn't a thought that he liked.

Shadow twitched the Berserk Fury's foot, giving an impatient growl. "Alright, alright" Raven replied hotly, taking the controls. Muttering darkly to himself, he steered the Berserk Fury down the canyon. The republic base slowly came into full view. The large open expanse where zoids would no doubt have been housed has tangled an overgrown around the edges, creating what looked more like a natural clearing than an artificially smoothed staging ground. The entrance to the base itself was blocked by the vegetation – he'd have to walk the last half-dozen yards. Bringing the Berserk Fury up to a lope, he began to cross the clearing.

A double salvo of beam fire slammed into the ground in front of Raven. He jerked back on the controls, the Berserk Fury rearing up on its hind legs and staggering a few steps backwards. He didn't have time to regain his senses before the attacker was on him. A great, white shape, a little bit bigger than the Berserk Fury, burst out of the foliage on his right, charging at him with a roar. Shadow jinked the Berserk Fury round and took off, getting into the canyon before Raven grabbed the controls and steered them round. If this thing was going to fight him, he'd much rather do it in an enclosed space where the thing could barely move. Only, it wasn't fighting him. The zoid came to a stop at the entrance to the canyon, giving an angry roar, but staying at the entrance. It was a Gordos – one of the great artillery zoids of the Helic Republic. Few things chilled Imperial soldiers to the bone more than a flanks of Gordos lumbering into view on the horizon. The republic wasn't known for extensive use of beam weaponry; that was the empire's phorte. But certain zoids had been refitted with stolen imperial technology, the Republic knowing that only fools ignore tactical advantages that are "beneath" them. This Gordos seemed to be a benefactor of such an modification. A valuable zoid indeed. So why was it in an abandoned Republic base?...

...And why did it have no pilot? Raven had just realised that the zoid's cockpit was empty. It was a wild zoid. So why was it defending a Republic base?

Raven stood there for a while, unwilling to break the stalemate. After a few minutes, he tentatively took a step forwards in the Berserk Gordos roared, stamping its feet and making Raven back away. Once he had, it stopped. Eventually, deciding he wasn't going to get anywhere, he turned the Berserk Fury around and started to leave, keeping an eye on the Gordos behind him. It didn't try anything, and as he lost sight of the clearing, he saw the Gordos start turning to leave. About the same time, Shadow froze the Berserk Fury in place. Raven tugged at the controls once or twice before banging his fist against the console in annoyance.

"Stop _doing_ that!" he growled, folding his arms and leaning back to glower at the console. Shadow gave an apologetic growl in response, before lowering the Berserk Fury to the ground and opening the cockpit. He left the Berserk Fury as Raven clambered out onto the ground, landing beside the human and folding up his wings. "So now what?"

Shadow didn't reply. Instead, he began walking back along the canyon towards the base.

"Hey, wait up!" Raven piped, getting a little panicky. "There's a mad Gordos back that way!" Shadow stopped to look over his shoulder and give Raven a diffident growl, before continuing on. "Hey, wait up! Wait!" He ran after the organoid, catching up as it rounded the last outcrop of rock. Here, Raven saw what he'd missed while in the Berserk Fury – a low trench that ran along the side of the base, disappearing into a tunnel that led towards the base. It looked like the remains of a water runoff, or something.

"So we're travelling by sewer now? He asked, raising an eyebrow. He jumped when he heard the low growl of the Gordos coming closer. "Sewer it is, then." He said hurriedly, clambering into the ditch and walking briskly to the tunnel.

*****

It had proven quite easy to get into the base; the tunnel had led to the base of a well, which in turn was only a hundred feet or so from the entrance. Now that they were inside, Shadow seemed to be looking for something. He stalked the corridors, pushing his nose through the old, rusty doors (those that hadn't fallen off their hinges), giving the room a quick once-over, before turning and going to the next room. Raven followed, at something of a loose end. He had no idea what Shadow was up to, and he wasn't about to go wandering and risk loosing him in the catacombs – he wasn't sure Shadow would bother to find him, for a start. He still couldn't shake the feeling that Shadow didn't really have any interest in him, and he was nothing more than a tag-along to whatever Shadow wanted to do. It was an uncomfortable idea, but one he didn't have an answer to.

After searching through a number of sections, Shadow and Raven came into a large room that seemed to be the quarters of the base commander; strategic maps were bolted to the wall, their details obscured under a thick layer of dust and grime, while a desk at the far end was littered with papers and office equipment. Going over to the table, Raven looked at the paraphernalia. His eye was caught straight away by a photo frame on the desk. Picking it up, Raven, wiped the dust off it to get a closer look. It was the Gordos from outside, with two figures posed in front of its nose; presumably the commander and his daughter. So it had been a military zoid; why was it left here?

Putting the photo down, Raven turned to look at the far corner, where the commander's bed and wardrobe stood, hidden from the door by a screen. The door stood ajar, revealing rows of clothing, preserved against the elements in plastic wrap, as if they'd been brought back from the cleaners and then abandoned in a hurry. The bed itself was in a much worse state, and would clearly never support anyone's weight again. But that wasn't what caught Raven's attention. On the bed was a small, red leather-bound book, a journal or diary of some kind. Picking it up, Raven delicately opened the fragile pages, hoping to find some clue as to why the base had been abandoned. He found it, on the last written enty.

_We're moving out today – the Imperials are in full retreat, and they need everyone up at the front to press the attack. Couldn't have come at a worse time, too – my Gordos still hasn't had his damaged leg repaired. We're gonna have to leave it here. Might come back to pick it up later – then again, I was due to get an improved version in a month anyway, so it'll probably be less effort to just leave it here. Not like those imperials ever even consider using captured Republic zoids, the pompous fools._

So he'd been abandoned here, cast off and forgotten. He must still be waiting for his master to come back. It was a little sad.

"So what are we here for?" Raven asked Shadow. There was no reply. "Shadow?" Raven asked, turning around. There was no sign of the organoid, but a door had appeared in the wall, with a staircase leading down. "Hey, wait for me!" Raven called, tossing the journal aside as he ran after his organoid.

*****

At the bottom of the stairs, Raven was met with a strange sight. The cold grey of the republic base was replaced with a warm, earthy sandstone. The staircase had been in darkness for the last half-dozen turns, but now there was a low, yellow glow from halogen lamps dotted around the chamber. Shadow was just turning on the last one, the spotlight sputtering into life after years of disuse. "What is this place?" Raven wondered out loud, looking around the cavern. It was a natural cave, carved out into an artificial vault. Half of the floor was bare, save for the littered remnants of some archaeological investigation. The other half was dominated by a thick stone column that ran the full height of the cave. Spaced along the outside in regular intevals was some kind of ancient script. The angular, ornate sigils wrapped round the pillar, the edges strangely sharp for something that was clearly very old.

"I've never seen words like these" Raven mused as he came closer. "A historical record? Or maybe some kind of message?..." he went to take another step, then paused as Shadow paced ahead, approaching the inscribed column and looking up its length. Raven finished closing the distance and stood next to his partner. "Any idea what they are?" Raven asked Shadow, placing his hand against the cold stone. Shadow made no response. For a while, he simply stood there, gazing up at the column. Finally, he lowered his head to look at the inscriptions. Glancing sideways at Raven, he raised both foreclaws and pressed them against the stone.

Raven jumped back as the strange symbols leapt to life, the carved surface filling with coruscating light. A low grinding sound rolled around the chamber, and the column began to rotate, sinking into the floor as it did. Raven looked up as the top came into view – and gasped. There, atop the pillar, were a pair of pods, identical to the ones where Shadow had been. Only this time, both were intact. The pillar finished sinking into the floor with a dull boom. While the echoes were still dying away, Shadow stepped forwards. Raven extended a hand.

"W-wait" he said helplessly. "What if-"

Shadow pressed his claws against the console on the side of the first pod. Both vessels pulsed bright green, and Raven stepped back, shielding his face with his arms as the pods cracked, and then fell apart with a gush of steam. Peering through the mist, Raven saw Shadow standing next to – Raven blinked. For a moment he'd thought he was seeing double. Now he saw that Shadow was next to another dragon-like zoid, much like himself, same hight, same width, and same hight, only this organiod had blood-red eyes, the armour was a glistening light silver and the joints were a lighter shade of purple. Shadow looked back at Raven, tilting his head in a beckoning gesture. "You sure?" Raven asked, stepping forward hesitantly. "I mean, sure, you must be pleased to meet another organoid, but are you sure he's safe?"

"_what do you mean?_" came a voice behind Raven, making him yelp in surprise and spin round. "Zeke is very nice, thank-you very much."

"Oh" Raven replied looking at the sandy-coloured blonde girl in front of him. "H-hello, uh.. you must have been in the other pod, right?"

"Guess so" she replied, never once shifting her red eyes from Raven's. "Hello my name's Fiona,what's yours."

"Uh... hi, Fiona I'm Raven" Raven replied awkwardly. She had a very disarming smile, as well as a very beautiful face you would've thought she was an angel. And...

"What?" Fiona asked as Raven glanced down and quickly turned his head sideways, flushing bright red. "What is it? Have I got food on my clothes or something?" Raven gave an embarrassed cough. Fiona glanced down at herself. "Ah" she observed, cheery attitude not even skipping a beat. "I see." Looking back up at Raven (who was rapidly getting very hot under the collar), she smiled sweetly. "Don't suppose you know where the nearest wardrobe is, do you?"

* * * * *

"Look, I said don't worry about it; wasn't like you knew beforehand." Fiona said as she put on the dress. A quick rummaging of the wardrobe where they'd found the diary had turned up the pink T-shirt, skirt and light brown boots that Fiona now; along with every other item of clothing on her person.

"Well, it's just..." Raven began, arms folded as he tried to be gentlemanly about it. "It's just a little... um... _odd_ having a young... girl be so collected about the whole... you know..."

"You're the same age as me and you know what's _really_ odd?" Fiona asked, flashing a wry smile. "Why did this commander have lady's clothing in his wardrobe? Including a silk bra and panties?"

_"...I didn't really need to know they were silk..."_ Raven mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "Er... Anyway, now that you're dressed, do you know a secret way out of this place?"

"Secret way?" Fiona echoed. "Can't we just take the front door?"

"Well, we would be able to, except-"

A dull boom rolled from outside, and the dust on the ceilings shook as the fort shivered from the impact of something.

"What was that?" Fiona asked as she and Raven regained their balance. Another boom came from outside, closer, louder and stronger, causing the items on the desk to fall off. "Time to go" Raven said, grabbing Fiona's wrist and dragging her after him.

*****

"Booyah!" Irvine let off another RPG, blowing a chunk out of the main watch tower. The maniac glint in his eyes would have chilled anyone watching him – here was a man who took an unnatural glee in wanton destruction. Not that it wasn't obvious anyway. "Yeah, that's it!" Irvine crowed as Shadow fled into the open, followed by Raven. "Come out where I can see- _sweet mother of_-" Irvine was cut off in mid-sentence as the RPG's recoil knocked him to his feet, the sudden shock having completely thrown off his aim. The grenade sailed across the canyon, impacting against the opposite wall in a shower of rubble. Irvine was already adjusting his eyepatch to make sure he'd seen right. Yep, there was no doubt about it; there were **two** organoids down there; Shadow, then Raven dragging some girl along, and then a silver organoid followed. Irvine grinned in excitement. This was too good to be true! Years searching for organoids, and then two appeared within 24 hours of each other. Oh, he was gonna be _rolling_ in it when this was over...

"Alright then," he said, squeezing off one last RPG round at the base, "time to get up close and personal." Slinging the launcher over his back, Irvine uncoiled his rope, fastening one end to a jagged outcrop. Flicking his comm open, he abseiled down the cliff face, sending the activation code to his waiting command wolf. The zoid lifted itself to its feet as Irvine landed in the open cockpit, pulling the control stick into place. "Alright, kid" he said to himself as the command wolf broke out of the undergrowth. "Let's dance..."

*****

"What's going on?" Fiona asked Raven as they dashed out of the building, in a tone of voice that would have been more appropriate for asking the time of day.

"How the hell should I know" Raven shouted back as he ran for the well. "This day's just been one piece of bad luck after another. I get chased by a Gordos, I get some mercenary between me and my way out and now _this!_"

"You sure have an interesting life" Fiona commented as they came to a stop by the well. "Sounds like fun"

"Are you kidding?" Raven replied. "I've been thrown in the deep end here – alright I'm good behind the controls of a zoid, but it's not like I want to fight every single pilot out-"

"Oh, you're a zoid pilot?"

"Well-" Raven had been caught off guard by the question. "er, yes I am..."

Fiona's next question was cut short as a blast of cannon fire hit the well, sending the humans and organoids sprawling. Raven looked up through the debris to see Irvine's command wolf looming over them, looking every bit as vicious as its pilot.

"Alright buddy" came Irvine's voice over the Wolf's speaker system. "I'm gonna tell you one time only." The cockpit rose and Irvine stepped out, RPG aimed at the group. "Hand over the organoids. Both of them."

Raven swore under his breath. This was bad. Their escape route was cut off, and Irvine's expression said he wouldn't hesistate to turn both Raven and Fiona into a smear on the ground... maybe they could bluff their way out...

"You do realise there's a wild Gordos living here?" Raven asked nonchalantly. "Nearly took my Berserk Fury's beam cannons off."

"You mean the white Gordos I just fought? And stoved its head in?" Irvine asked, grinning at Raven's defeated expression. "Yeah, I thought you meant that one. So then, which will it be?"

"I..." Raven began, utterly at a loss for how to proceed. They stood for a while in a standoff. Then, Shadow unfurled his wings and took off, skimming underneath the Command Wolf and out of sight.

"Shadow!" Raven called after him, not believing what he was seeing. Shadow was abandoning him? Now? So it _had_ been nothing more than a friendship of convenience.

"Damn!" Irvine cursed as the black organoid escaped. "He might have escaped, but you won't." He aimed the RPG at Zeke. "A damaged organoid's better than none at all."

"No, don't!" Fiona cried, scared for the first time since Raven had met her. "Don't hurt him!"

"Oh, isn't that sweet" Irvine said in mock sympathy. "But I'm not a gentleman – being a girl won't save you." Irvine looked down through the sights and began to squeeze the trigger...

A blast hit the side of his Command Wolf, throwing him off balance and making him drop the RPG over the edge of the cockpit. "Where the hell did that come from?!" he yelled as he scrambled back into the cockpit, pulling the Wolf around. What he saw made his blood freeze. "No, it can't be... I sent you to the scrapheap!" The white Gordos roared its defiance and fired another fullisade from its beam cannons. Raven could see that Irvine had really done a number on it; the armor was cracked and blasted, the knee joints were stalling on every second step, and its face had indeed been stoved in; the right side of the cockpit was completely smashed, the console sparking like an electric wound. But even so, it was charging forwards at a speed no Gordos should be able to reach. Irvine barely managed to get clear of the vicious headbutt it directed at him.

"How it is still moving?" Raven wondered out loud.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fiona asked, hands clasped behind her back. "Your organoid bonded with it. He didn't have time to repair it properly, so he just concentrated on the internals."

"Wh- uh, he's not exactly _my_ organoid." Raven replied. "I just found him and he's tagged along since then."

"Wait, you _found_ him?" Fiona asked, suddenly surprised. "But... wasn't he with someone?"

"No, he was in a pod." Fiona looked like she was about to ask another question, but bit her lip, seemingly deciding against it. Looking back at the two fighting zoids, she smiled. "Well anyway, _your_ organoid handles himself very well in a fight." And he was. Irvine was a skilled pilot, and was handling the Wolf like a professional, but the Gordos was moving like a zoid half its weight, keeping pressure on the mercenary with the beam cannons.

"DIE, damn you!" Irvine yelled at the Gordos as he levelled the cannons straight at the cockpit. The Wolf let off a double-salvo, hitting the Gordos square on the head. Even through the smoke, Raven could see the white bulk of the Gordos falling to the ground. And when the smoke cleared, it revealed that the head of the dinosaur was now completely obliterated, blasted down to a burnt, mangled stump.

"Oh" Fiona said quietly, delicate fingers over her mouth in worry. "The poor thing."

"And _stay_ down this time!" Irvine shouted over the comm. Turning back to the two humans he'd forgotten, he trained the cannons on them. "Right, I've had enough of you two" he said, lining up his sights. "Was gonna kill you anyway, may as well do it now"

"Run!" Raven said desperately, grabbing Fiona's hand in a futile attempt to reach cover. A dull explosion of cannon fire sounded before they were even halfway there – and yet they weren't dead. Irvine turned his head slowly to the left, not even seeing the smoking hole in his Wolf's flank.

"No... no way..." he said faintly as the headless Gordos pushed itself back to its feet, lining itself up with Irvine's Command Wolf. "This can't be happening..." For a few seconds, the Gordos stood there. Then, a bolt of white light arced out of the Gordos' back, leaving it to slump lifeless to the ground, before diving down and plunging straight through Irvine's Command Wolf, downing it like a spear through the heart. Irvine fell from the cockpit as it smashed on the ground, tumbling over and hitting the ground at a painful-looking angle. He didn't get up.

"Is he dead?" Fiona asked Raven.

"Dunno." Raven replied, cautiously advancing on him. Slipping a hand to Irvine's temple he checked for a pulse. "Yeah, he's alive – just unconscious. Let's get out of here while we can." He turned to leave for the canyon entrance, but was stopped by a metallic claw on his shoulder. It was Shadow.

"What is it?" Raven asked. "What do you want us to wait for?" Shadow gave no response, but instead took to the air with a flap of his wings, bolting into the great hulk of the fallen Gordos. A wind kicked up, swirling around the Gordos for a few seconds, before disappearing again. A white light bolted out of the Gordos and landed next to Raven. "You okay?" he asked in surprise, as Shadow swayed once or twice and dropped to a sitting position.

"He's exhausted" Fiona replied. "He's just fought solo in a large-scale zoid, stayed conscious after said Zoid went into a system freeze, and jump-started its self-repair process enough for the thing to survive. Most organoids don't have the stamina to do that."

"Hang on a second." Raven said, frowning "How do you know so much about organoids?"

"I do?" Fiona echoed. "Huh, I don't know I just do..."

"What are you serious? Organoids are a myth, no-one even knows if they're real..."

"We know they're real, we've got two."

"...well, alright, but the point is that there's no information on them, so how do you know this stuff?"

"Well," Fiona replied, hands clasped behind her back as she paced past Raven. "Obvoiusly there must be some information about organoids floating around, or I wouldn't know it, would I?"

"Yeah, but still doesn't-"

Fiona slid her hands over Raven's shoulders, linking them up in front of him. "And remember you did find me in a pod next to an organoid – maybe that has something to do with it?"

"You mean, you don't know what you were doing in there?"

"Well no, I was asleep, obviously."

Raven sighed. "I give up. So then, what now? You have somewhere to go?"

"Where are you going?"

"Next village over, I guess."

"I'll come along with you then."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You're a direct sort of person, aren't you?"

"That's me" Fiona replied, beaming from ear to ear. "So, you gonna show me your zoid?..."

*****

"This is a nice zoid."

"Uh-huh" Raven replied nervously. The Berserk Fury was not designed to carry two people, and Fiona was pressed up against Raven's back. It was quite distracting.

"So, we going?"

Raven took the controls and started to steer the Berserk Fury away from the canyon. Shadow didn't seem to have a specific destination in mind now – seems this whole trip had been about reviving this strange girl and her organoid. And that set Raven to wondering; if there were two organoids just lying around, what was to stop their being three? Or more? Not that he hadn't known that already... and he knew there was absolutely nothing to stop those organoids being vicious killers. The thought of such a creature at the controls of a zoid sent a shiver up his spine.

"You cold?" Fiona asked.

"Y-yeah," Raven lied, not wanting to sound silly by voicing his fears. Right now, he should concentrate on getting to the next village over, stocking up and deciding what to do.

The Berserk Fury continued its steady pace to the west, a silhouette against the sky.

* * *

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	4. Bandits

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**

**Ep.4 – Bandits**

It was late in the night when Raven finally set the Berserk Fury down so that they could get some rest it was a beautiful moonlight night the crescent moons illuminated the landscape and stars shone like billions of firefly's this would have been the kind of night poets would write about and couples would share their first kiss and because it was that kind of night Raven had a hard time keeping the image of him and Fiona kissing out his head once he had climbed of the Berserk Fury "Raven" Fiona called

"Yeah" Raven answered

"Ya Know when that man attacked us?"

"Yeah"

"I never asked you my question"

"Ok. What's your question?"

"Will you help me search for Zoid Eve?"

"What's that"

"I don't know... I just know that I have to find it"

'She's looking for something but she doesn't know what...that's crazy, but it would be a good excuse for an adventure'

"Alright I'll do it" Raven finally said

"Thank you Raven" Fiona exclaimed and hugged him

"Y-y-your w-w-welcome" Raven said his whole face turned red

The whole time the two organoids were watching and burst into fits of laughter at Raven's reaction Raven sent them a glare the organoids instantaneous response was to do something that sounded like whistling and pretend they were minding their own business which annoyed Raven even further

"Zeke, Shadow stop making fun of Raven" Fiona scolded

Both organoids stopped imediotly after Fiona finished and Raven stared at the girl wondering how in the world she could control those organoids so well

"We should get some sleep Fiona"

"I'll stay up a little longer"

"Why?"

"I want to listen to the water some more"

"Ok but I can't hear any water and don't stay up too late"

"I wont"

"Good night" Raven said

"Good night" Fiona replied

The next morning the blistering heat of the sun was making the dessert feel like an oven at four hundred degrees and it didn't help that they didn't have any water, Raven was about to give up finding water until he remembered what Fiona had said about hearing water

"Fiona could you guide me to water?" Raven asked

"Sure Raven" Fiona replied

A few minuets later Raven set down the Berserk Fury in front of a lake with clear blue water Raven helped Fiona out of the cockpit and walked to the lake, smiling he knelt down, cupped his hands and began to drink, it wasn't long before Fiona joined him by the lake

"Raven why do you like the water so much?" Fiona asked

"Well there are lots of reasons for one thing the water is great for when your thirsty some people use the water to cool down when they'er angry and you can play in the water"

"Oh...water is really nice"

"Yeah"

Suddenly Raven was headbutted into the water by Zeke which made Fiona, Shadow and Zeke laugh Raven was pissed and he started to glaring at the silver organoid

"You got to sleep sometime organoid" Ranven muttered

Then Raven heard something and turned to see the guy with the commend wolf that attacked them at the old Republican fortress that an abandoned white Gordos was protecting

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked

"I didn't introduce myself last time I'm Irvine...I thought I heard some bandits and I came to check it out but now I see its just you kid" Irvine said

"have a name jackass its Raven and if you came for Shadow and Zeke you'll have to go through me" Raven warned

"that sounds easy but I'm here to protect this village not get your organoids"

"Really?" Fiona asked

"Yeah"

"What are you protecting them from?" Raven asked

"Bandits or Republican soldiers posing as bandits" Irvine said

"Why would soldiers pose as bandits?" Fiona asked

"Some Republican soldiers are greedy and want more than they get so they steal from nearby villages posing as bandits so the army doesn't get a worse reputation" Raven explained

"That's terrible!" Fiona exclaimed

"Yeah but that's the kind of corruption in the Republican army" Irvine said

"Fiona would you like to help protect this village" Raven asked

"No this village only needs one protector and that's me you'd just be in the way" Irvine said

"What!?" Raven exclaimed

"I said you'd just be in the way" Irvine repeated

"Try me I can hold my own in a fight" Raven said

Suddenly water was poured on Raven's head which confused him "Who did that?" Raven asked and he turned to see Fiona with an empty water jug wondering she got it he asked

"Where'd you get that?"

"I found it"

"Ok. Why did you pour water on my head?"

"Because you were getting angry and needed to cool off"

Raven just stared befuddled at her half of him wanted to yell at her the other wanted to explain that there was a time and place for everything then Irvine started to laugh

"You two make a cute couple" Irvine stated

"Raven's only trying to help. Is that so bad?" Fiona said

"Huh?" was all Irvine could say

"Is that so bad? Is it wrong"

"I wouldn't say it's wrong"

"Is it because you hate us?"

"N-n-no not really" Ivine said taken aback by the girls bluntness and innocence

***

Bull (had pale blue hair and blue-grey eyes), Bianco (had silver hair down to his the middle of his back) and Nero (had black hair down to his shoulders and black eyes) were watching them from on top of the cliff and unknown to Raven and the others and unfortunately they herd everything and were in shock and ecstatic at their discovery

"Oh man I can't believe it two organoids. I thought they were just a myth!" Bull said

"Yeah Bull and a couple of brats have them" Nero agreed

"Nero, Bull we should go tell the boss" Bianco said

"Yeah" Bull agreed

"Let's go" Nero said

The trio got in their zoids, a blue Guysak and two dessert Command Wolves and returned to their camp quickly there were other zoids two Molga's, a Redler and finally a Red Horn they stopped in front of their boss a man with red hair down two his shoulder-blades, grey eyes, and a scar just under his right eye to his left there was a woman with short brown hair covering the left of her grey-green eyes to his right there two men to his right one had grey-green eyes and pale yellow eyes the other one had blonde hair and grey eyes then they got out

"What are you three doing back here so soon?" the woman demanded

"Calm down Viola we just found something and we wanted to report it directly" Bianco said

"And what did you find?" the man with red hair asked

"organoids" Bull simply said

"What!?" they all exclaimed

"Do you expect us to believe that" Voila yelled

"Is it true?" the red haired man asked

"Probably" Nero said

"Rosso you don't seriously believe this do you?" Viola asked

"Viola every myth begins with a story and sometimes those stories are based on truth. Everyone move out!" Rosso yelled

"Yes sir" they all shouted

***

Raven, Fiona, Zeke and Shadow were walking with the village elder to get a layout of the land and were the bandits might attack from Fiona was riding on Zeke and Shadow was walking next to Raven who was in a bad mood

"I can't believe the nerve of that jackass 'they just need one protector and that's me' yeah right I'm just as good a zoid pilot as he is" Raven said broodingly

Suddenly he started to fall but fortunately Shadow caught him in time and pulled him back onto solid ground Raven then looked into what he'd have fallen into

"Thank's for catching me Shadow" Raven thanked the organoid and purred in return

"Oh no are you alright?" the elder asked

"Yeah I'm ok but what's a hole doing in the middle of the dessert?" Raven replied

"It was caused by an aquafer" the elder said

"Aquafer?" Raven said

"that's right the rocks in this area are highly pourris which means that they hold a lot of water as a result this village has an exalent supply of clean pure drinking water that's why were able to survive out here in the middle of a dessert"

"so why the hole's?"

"Some people who had on their mind's and the Republican army decided to dig up the aquafer's in doing so they made the ground unstable"

"So the ground can collapse then"

"As guardians of nature we have an responsabilaty not to abuse the things she gives us to look after if we take too much from her it upsets the balance and we loose what we once had"

"Don't worry Shadow and I will do our best to help out"

Shadow tuned his to the right and started to growl angrily

"What's wrong Shadow?" Raven said

"He just herd something Raven" Fiona said

Shadow then roared and out of a dust cloud two Molga's, two Command wolves, a Guysak, a Red Horn and a Redler flying above them came out

***

"Got company" Irvine said

***

'Right time for some fighting' Rosso thought

***

Irvine slid down the mountain's slope into his Command Wolf

***

"Hurry up Shadow we cant let that jackass do everything"

Shadow and Raven proceeded to pick up the pace with Zeke and Fiona not far behind Shadow with the Berserk Fury quickly and lowered the cockpit so Raven could get in

"Raven can I come?" Fiona asked

"No way" Raven answered

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt"

"Alright"

Raven quickly got in and went to join the battle, by the time he got there Irvine had already taken out two Molga's and was being attacked by the Red Horn and one of the Command wolves

"Looks like he could use our help Shadow"

A growl of agreement came from Shadow then the Guysak came charging at them but Raven quickly dispatched the zoid with a couple of precise shots from the Beam Cannon's then faced the guy in the Red Horn

"You must be the leader you got a fight" Raven said

"I doubt that" Rosso replied

Then the Redler came swooping down and tried to decapitate the Berserk Fury with the blade on it's tail but Raven stoped just in time shocking every one especially the Redler pilot Raven then fired on the Redler and hit the blade and sent it into a tail-dive but the pilot ejected before the zoid hit the ground

"It'll take a lot more than that to beat me" Raven said

Raven fired on the Red Horn but the blocked his shot buy firing one of his, Irvine came to a decision he would pull back to see what Raven could do and piloted his Command Wolf away

"Where are you going?" Raven yelled

"I told you this village only need's one protector" Irvine replied

"Your kidding"

Then the two enemy Command Wolves came up behind Raven and the pilot of the Red Horn spoke through his intercom

"Look's like your friend abandoned you" Rosso said

"He's not my friend and what make's you think I need that jackass anyway?" Raven replied

"You got gut's kid and if you give me the organoid's I wont hurt you"

"Wow thank's for the offer but there's no in hell way I'm giving them to you"

"Fine kid now we'll have take them by force"

The Red Horn and the Command Wolves fired but dodged by using the Vernier Thruster and the Ion Booster Pack he went to the right then did a three hundred and sixty degree turn and let loose a barrage of laser's when the dust settled only the Red Horn was left standing but it was barely the right front and hind legs were severely damaged and the torso was worse it looked like it had taken most of the assault and lost Anti-Zoid 3-Barreled Linear Cannon but it turned to face the Berserk Fury and charged then out of nowhere two shots hit the Red Horn, Raven tuned to see Irvine and his Command Wolf but all Raven could say was

"Jackass"

***

"There was no need for you to butt in Shadow and I could've handled it on my own" Raven said angrily

"Whatever see ya around kid" Irvine said

"MY NAME'S RAVEN"

"You know Raven that Irvine guy believed in you when he left the battle" Fiona said

"Hmph...hey how did you know he left the battle?"

Suddenly Fiona found the water very interesting and decided to go to the lake

"FIONA"

* * *

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